A Leighton man has been charged with transmitting threats across state lines to cause bodily injury to another person.
The defendant allegedly used fake names online to post hundreds of anti-Semitic, anti-black, and anti-Muslim messages, images, and videos. Several of these posts, like the one charged in the complaint, included threats to various religious and racial groups. Other posts expressed a desire to commit genocide and “hate crimes,” and called for or depicted images of the killing of Jewish people, black people, and Muslim people”. On March 13, 2019, the defendant allegedly posted a digitally-created image of his arm and hand aiming an AR-15 rifle at a congregation of praying Jewish men, gathered in what appears to be a synagogue.
The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 5 years of imprisonment for each violation, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/lehighton-man-charged-internet-threats